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Brynmawr school pledges to do better

THE headteacher of a Brynmawr school which received just an “adequate” overall Estyn rating has said the school’s priority now is to address the recommendations in the report.

Brynmawr Foundation Secondary School was told to improve its standards in English, attendance and the quality of teaching.

An Estyn inspection carried out in December last year was published last week, with the school receiving “adequate” performance status overall, just one level higher than the lowest rating of “unsatisfactory”.

The report recommended that, among other things, the school improve standards in English which are below expectations, improve attendance, reduce the rate of fixed term exclusions, improve the quality of teaching and assessment and reduce the variation across the school.

The report said: “At key stage 4 the gap between the performance of girls and boys in indicators that include English and mathematics is greater than the similar schools average.”

It also said that in the minority of classes there is a “lack of challenge and a failure to cater for the different abilities within the class”.

The report also added that good progress is being made by pupils in the majority of lessons and pupils of all backgrounds are “valued”.

Headteacher James Retallick said: “The priority will now be to work with pupils, parents, staff and governors to plan to address Estyn’s recommendations.”